“All types of streams are part of the picture and need to be protected,” Ann Schertz of Blair shared during a meeting with Rep. Leslie Combs in Cumberland yesterday.

Members from the Harlan and Letcher county chapters expected to meet with both legislators who represent the Tri-city area to discuss KFTC’s legislative priorities, however Rep. Rick Nelson did not show up.  Members participated in a discussion about a range of issues, including mountaintop removal, enforcement of mining laws, tax reform, restoration of voting rights, coal trucks, and renewable energy.  The major emphasis of the discussion was on the Stream Saver bill and the need for mountain legislators to stand up against the coal companies.  Members also thanked Rep. Combs for co-sponsoring KFTC’s tax justice bill, HB 262. 

At-home meetings, or meetings with legislators in the district, are an important way to enable a wider set of KFTC members to talk with their legislators face-to-face.  It can also provide an important for more in-depth discussion about the issues KFTC members are working on.

I think we definitely made our message very clearly.  I want them to know that we are growing in strength, and they can’t take us for granted
--Carl Shoupe, Benham, KY

Other KFTC members are encouraged to set up at-home meetings throughout the legislative session.  If you want to organize a meeting, contact your local organizer for assistance. 

Central KY Chapter members of KFTC have been concentrating lately on writing letters to the editor about different issues we collectively care about to have an impact on the General Assembly.  Members work separately to write letters, but are also starting to come together once a week to write together.  Feel free to join us.

Weekly Central KY Letter Writing Gathering – Sundays at 2pm at Third Street Stuff (on the corner of Third Street and Limestone) in Lexington.

This letter by member Caitlin Powell was published in the Herald-Leader yesterday. 

Return Felons' Rights

February is Black History Month, and every year on Martin Luther King Day in January, Lexington celebrates King's message of hope, peace and equality.

This is also a good time to assess the current state of equality and fairness, and to ask what more we can do to bring King's vision to reality.

How does Kentucky measure up? One of the most basic rights that we have as citizens of Kentucky and the United States is the right to vote.

However, thousands of Kentucky citizens, including many African Americans, do not have a voice in their government.

Why does this disparity exist? Kentucky has the toughest laws for restoring voting rights to former felons who have served their time. If we truly care about equality, we should support former felons in their fight to get back the right to vote.

King, no doubt, would agree.

Caitlin Powell
Lexington

We have just begun the hiring process for two brand-new positions within KFTC, a Communications Associate/Writer and a Voter Empowerment Organizer.  Click the links for full job descriptions.  Please help us spread the word about about these positions.

Communications Associate/Writer

The primary role of the Writer is to help KFTC’s Executive Director and Management Team maintain consistent and effective communication with KFTC staff, leaders, allies, and funders.  The Writer will work closely with KFTC’s Executive Director and Deputy Director on foundation fundraising; correspondence with funders, staff, and members; and other writing projects as assigned.  The Writer will also work closely with other members of the Management Team (including the Organizing Director, Communications Director, and Development Director) on general and special writing projects.  As a member of KFTC’s staff team, the Writer will work to advance the organization’s overall mission and goals.

Voter Empowerment Organizer

The role of the Voter Empowerment Organizer will be to work with the KFTC leaders and staff to implement the organization’s non-partisan voter empowerment program including leadership development, research and communications, outreach to new and unlikely voters, and fundraising support.  As a member of KFTC’s staff team, the Organizer will work to advance the organization’s overall mission and goals.

    When the General Assembly had its special session last August, it was all about giving hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to big energy and mostly coal-burning companies.  Public pressure against this blatant and short-sighted giveaway prompted legislators to throw in a few provisions for renewable energy.

    Trouble is, they didn’t think through these provisions very well.  So there is a slew of renewable and energy efficiency bills in the current General Assembly to improve these programs, and one of those bills got a hearing and favorable committee vote today.

    House Bill 92, sponsored by Louisville Rep. Jim Wayne, would lower the threshold for some renewable energy projects to receive state support from a $1 million capital investment to a $50,000 capital investment. Given that renewable and sustainable energy is often small-scale and local, there would be many viable projects that would not meet the $1 million capital investment threshold before being eligible for state subsidies. HB 92 recognizes this and does something about it.

    The hearing was in the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee, where Rep. Wayne, KFTC’s Teri Blanton, Andy McDonald of the Kentucky Solar Partnership and Bruce Williams of the Kentucky Conservation Committee all offered supporting testimony. (Listen to their testimony from KET here.) The committee approved the bill by unanimous vote.

    The coal industry did not testify against the bill, as they have in the past against renewable energy initiatives.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about the systematic lack of enforcement by the Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE).  The stories were compiled by members of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth living on Raccoon Branch near Hueysville in Floyd County. These stories are not unique to this community, but they have done a very good job documenting the abuses of the coal company mining around them and the willingness of the state DMRE to turn a blind eye to these dangerous and destructive abuses.  These same stories are happening in countless hollers and communities throughout the coalfields of eastern Kentucky.

Imagine methane gas coming out of your faucet, your dishwasher, your cloths washer, your hot water heater and into your home. And then imagine a state inspector tell you everything is ok, the levels are safe; then asking if anyone in your home smokes.

Clinton Handshoe

This is what happened to the Brewer family and Clinton Handshoe.

Rick Handshoe’s father Clinton and his sister’s family, Debbie and Ernest Brewer and their two sons Blake and Gage ages 5 and 4, live in Knott County on Route 292 near the Floyd County line. Their family has lived in the community of Hueysville for generations.

A few years ago a deep mine opened up exactly 300 feet from Clinton’s Handshoe’s front porch. This deep mine, run by CONSOL Coal Company, is mining the Elkhorn number three coal seam which is about seventy to eighty feet below the Handshoe and the Brewer homes.

The first problem Clinton encountered was constant noise and dust from the mine. The fine coal dust was so bad he could write his name on the inside of his bedroom window sill 24 hours after last cleaning it off. Clinton, who is in his 80s, already has to be on oxygen for health reasons. Clinton’s favorite way of showing people who stop by how bad the dust can be is to spray his shutters with a garden hose. The water runs black down the outside of the house from the build up of coal dust.

Then one day both Clinton's and the Brewer's drinking wells went dry. The depth of the wells happens to be about the same as the depth of the Elkhorn three coal seam being mined.

Both the Brewers and Clinton were told by the coal company that if they each drilled a new well, CONSOL would reimburse them for their expenses. This never happened. Even worse is that new wells they drilled also went dry.

When Clinton and the Brewers called the state to get help, the state Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement determined their wells were not impacted by the coal mining.  Clinton then turned to the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center who challenged the state DMRE’s ruling and brought in expert witnesses to prove that the mining was causing the wells to go dry.  But the state DMRE still decided that the damage to the wells was not caused by the mining.

While all of this was going on the Brewers who have one small child and a newborn were without water in their home for several months.

Finally in February 2007 a state agent came out to the Brewer’s once again because their new well would stop producing water after pumping only about 3 gallons.  State DMRE inspectors put a camera down the well and determined the problem was due to methane gas seeping into the well.  Once about three gallons of water was removed from the well the pressure in the well would decrease enough to allow a stream of methane gas to block the pump from pumping up any water.  This was also happening in Clinton Handshoe’s well.

What the state DMRE did not tell the Brewers or Clinton was that at the same time the methane gas started seeping into the wells the deep mine was ordered to shut down because of a build-up of methane gas.

Methane gas leak in water well.

As you can see in the video, the methane gas is entering the well at approximately same depth as the deep mine.  The State DMRE still ruled that the deep mine was not causing the methane to enter the wells.

When Rick Handshoe accompanied a state inspector to his father’s home to determine how much methane gas was coming out of the well the inspector put the methane detector over the opening of the well but quickly jerked it back.  The inspector said he was afraid the high level of methane gas coming out of the well was going to burn out the sensor on his methane detector.  According to Rick the inspector couldn’t determine the exact level of methane gas coming out of the well because his detector was unable to read that high.  The inspector said not to worry it was perfectly safe.  However the inspector was quick to add, “but don’t let anyone smoke around this well.”

Rick then tried to research the long-term health effects of exposure to methane gas.  All he was able to find was that those effects are unknown.  Rick said he’s concerned about the health of his nephews growing up in a home constantly being exposed to unknown levels of methane gas.  As Rick said, “ The levels inside the home were not very high the day the inspector came out to check, but what are they today, and what will the levels be tomorrow?  How do we know it will be safe next week?”

    Tuesday was a short legislative day, given the Monday holiday, but marked the first hearing of the session for House Bill 262. The hearing took place before the House Subcommittee on Gaming. Chairwoman Joni Jenkins explained that she wanted the committee to hear testimony on this revenue plan because it is important for them to understand other options the state has for raising revenue. The hearing was for information purposes only, and no vote was taken.

    The panel of testifiers included Rep. Jim Wayne, Dr. Peter Meyer (an economist at U of L and a KFTC member), Dr. Sheila Schuster (representing four large mental health and health care coalitions), and Dana Beasley Brown representing KFTC.

    In an inspired introduction, Rep. Wayne described the components of the bill and made the case for raising revenue fairly.  He was great, maintaining that the revenue from this bill means "the difference between a retirement system imploding or not, it means a double digit tuition increase…read tax increase…on college tuition or not. It means our K through 12 schools falling behind the nation or keeping pace with other states, it means a crumbling Medicaid system or adequate care for our most vulnerable. The list goes on and on.  We don’t want to imagine the nightmare that will soon become real unless we act boldly to lead our citizens the way we are called to do."

   Peter Meyer testified not only as an economist, but also as a person who'd be asked to contribute more with an estate tax and with our proposed changes to the income tax.  He said that a more progressive tax system makes good economic sense for Kentucky, and in fact said that it could be made even more progressive than the bill proposes without harming the economy.  He also said that restoring the estate tax is good public policy--the current phase out, he said, rewards the wealthiest Kentuckians for their good luck--and that, as someone who'd be paying this tax in the future, he fully supports it. 

    Sheila Schuster was terrific in telling legislators that they should raise revenue and raise it fairly. She said that she and KEA (Kentucky Education Association) are working hand in hand this session to make sure legislators don’t pit health interests against education interest as they divide up the crumbs in the budget. She described very clearly some of the ways that mental health has been harmed by under-funding (no cost-of-living increase for community mental health centers in 13 years, even while caseloads have increased 17 percent). Schuster ended her testimony with, "It's all about people, and people cannot wait.  It's really not a choice.  We need this revenue, and we need to get it in a fair and sensible and progressive way."

    Dana Beasley Brown rocked her little boy to sleep just in time to emphasize the ways in which HB 262 addresses the unfairness and regressive nature of our current tax system. She explained how families of four living just above the poverty line pay more taxes in Kentucky than in any other state, and explained how that unfairness feels to families that it most directly affects.  She was wonderful as always. 

     There were a few questions from legislators. Rep. Mike Cherry said, "If given a chance to vote on this bill, I'd vote for it....I believe in the progressive tax system."  He made it clear that he likes this better than a cigarette tax because it is progressive. 

    The testimony on HB 262 was followed by testimony from the health groups about the cigarette tax. This was followed by a statement from KFTC member Bill Stolte, who spoke as an individual. He held up the Tax Expenditure Report and said, “I believe every member of the legislature should read with the budget in one hand and the tax expenditure analysis in the other.” He pointed out the $300 million in exemptions for retired persons who don’t pay income taxes on pension income, social security income, or dividend income.

    That got a comment from Rep. Tom Burch:

I enjoyed your presentation but if you're looking for profiles in courage, you've come to the wrong place.

    It was a very good series of presentations. The media was all in the room, but today’s newspapers have nothing.

The Central KY Chapter of KFTC is fortunate to have three great interns this semester to help deepen our grassroots organizing effort while bringing our people-power to bear on legislative goals in the General Assembly and learning a lot while doing it.  These interns are John Ghaelian, Joe Gallenstein, and Danny Cotton.

Each are from the University of Kentucky and are involved in chapter activities as well as the UK KFTC organization and many other ally organizations.

Joe Gallenstein hopes to focus his internship on Restoration of Voting Rights for Former Felons, organizing at-home events to build support for HB 70 and the eventual ballot vote to ratify the Constitutional Amendment. 

I think it’s really important for UK students to know what their peers are going through – what other students, friends, family, and others of the 186,000 former felons live with – and then how we can help them, said Joe. 

Danny Cotton is focusing his internship on in-person lobbying in Frankfort and is looking forward to lobbying for the first time and joining the ranks of KFTC’s veteran citizen lobbyists. 

I’m especially excited about the big lobby days like I Love Mountains Day coming up,” said Danny.  “I think we can bring a lot of people out and make a lasting impression on the senators and representatives.

John Ghaelian will concentrate his internship on influencing the General Assembly on a range of issues and wants to learn a lot more about how KFTC does long-term Leadership Development and how we can develop student leaders.

My biggest hope is that we can bring tons of students to Frankfort to make a big impact on the legislature – especially young people who don’t think of themselves as being able to make a difference on that level, said John.

A collection of organizations again showed Morristown in Central Kentucky tonight to expand the conversation on immigrant rights within KFTC and our ally groups.

The movie, by Appalshop’s Anne Lewis, explores issues of immigration and workers’ rights working-class people in Mexico and eastern Tennessee are caught in the throes of massive economic change, challenging their assumptions about work, family, nation and community. The film is in Spanish and English with subtitles.

The movie was sponsored by KFTC, the UK College Democrats, Amnesty International UK, the Latino American Student Organization, KCIRR, and the local chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers.

If you've not seen the video, you can see a clip on Appalshop's website. 

 Students and community members discuss after the movie.

KET aired a program on Monday on Voting Rights for Former Felons.  You can catch a rerun (schedule below) or see the video online. 

Guests:

• State Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington
• Kentucky House Minority Whip Stan Lee, R-Lexington
• David Stengel, commonwealth's attorney for Jefferson County
• Tim Coleman, commonwealth's attorney for Butler, Edmonson, Hancock and Ohio counties

You can see the video online on the KET's website HERE

The show will also air as a rerun on KET on the following times:

Tuesday, January 22 at 7:00/6:00 am CT on KETKY
Tuesday, January 22 at 5:00/4:00 pm CT on KETKY
Wednesday, January 23 at 2:00/1:00 am CT on KET1
Thursday, January 24 at 5:00/4:00 am CT on KETKY

House Bill 70, the Restoration of Voting Rights for Former Felons bill, is gaining some momentum in Frankfort with lots of help from KFTC members.

      Central KY members Jenn Myatt, Tayna Fogle, and Jonathan Hampton lobbying for HB 70 in Frankfort.

Lobbying so far has focused on bringing co-sponsors last year back onto the bill, and is starting to focus on lining up House Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee votes in preparation of a hearing on February 5^th at 8 a.m.

Knowing that Rep. Jim Glenn became a co-sponsor for HB 70 after my group talked to him gives me a sense of accomplishment for participating in the legislative process.  It would be great if many other people came to the lobby day on the 28th to experience this as well.  As a volunteer lobbyist, I’ve learned that you can make a real difference. --Jenn Myatt, Central Kentucky member

Members are also continuing to keep up the ground work to raise public awareness of the issue in communities across the state, by getting hundreds of postcards to legislators signed, passing out hundreds of handbills about the issue in the recent Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March in Lexington earlier this week, and planning future public education events (please schedule one in your area along with your local organizer!)

There are lots of upcoming events, but the largest is the big focus lobby day on February 28^th.  KFTC will head up the citizen lobbying effort that day, along with many ally organizations.  Coalition partner People Advocating Recovery (PAR) is in the process of mobilizing former felons and other people in recovery by the hundreds to also come out that day, to rally and speak out on Restoration. 

“We want to empty the recovery houses all over the state and bring hundreds of former felons and supporters out on Feb 28^th," says Tayna Fogle – a former felons spokesperson who has put a lot of effort into bringing the day together. 

In other exciting news, Representative Jody Richards, Speaker of the House, recently joined many other legislators in co-sponsoring this bill – a strong sign that House Leadership supports this bill.  KFTC Members hop that we can pass the bill through the House quickly so we can spend as much time as possible putting pressure on the Senate, where the bill faltered last year. 

Upcoming Restoration Events

HB 70 Hearing – Tuesday, February 5^th at 8 a.m. in Frankfort in the House Elections and Constitutional Amendments committee on the 1^st floor of the Capitol Annex.

Restoration of Voting Rights Spokesperson Training – Saturday, February 9^th at 2 p.m. at Hunter Presbyterian Church in Lexington.  We’ll bring together former felons from across the state to share our stories about not being able to vote, talk about how these personal stories are powerful, and get comfortable telling them to people in our communities, legislators, and the media. 

UK Restoration Event – Tuesday, February 19^th at 7pm at the Catholic Newman Center.  A mix of videos and speakers including Rep Jesse Crenshaw, former felon spokespeople, and more, this event will raise awareness of Restoration of Voting Rights for Former Felons. 

Restoration of Voting Rights Focus Lobby Day - Thursday, February 28^th.  Based out of room 111 in the Capitol Annex in Frankfort.  This is a massive lobby day in Frankfort for our legislation to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.

Call your Legislator!

Leave a message for your state representative on the Legislative Message Line (800-372-7181) asking them to co-sponsor the bill.  Message: "I urge you to support a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.  Please sign on as a co-sponsor to HB 70"